A study hypothesized that pedagogical beliefs, as well as method course experience, would be important and related influences on how preservice teachers used portfolios. During a year-long study, 20 elementary education majors were followed as they moved through methods courses into student teaching and their first year as classroom teachers.…

This bulletin focuses on workplace mentors for all students involved in work-based learning as required in the School-to-Work Opportunities Act. It reviews these key issues that should be addressed in developing an effective mentoring component in a school-to-work system: a recruitment plan for mentors; eligibility screening for mentors and…

Mentoring is important in developing successful professionals in a variety of fields. The mentor offers the protege a source of knowledge and support, which, in turn, gives the mentor satisfaction. To find a mentor, a person usually decides on a field of interest, and once this is accomplished, the individual searches for someone with similar…

Current literature suggests ways in which science education can be improved within schools; however, curriculum implementation based on current knowledge has not been achieved. The purpose of this study was to evaluate instruction designed to teach preservice science teacher education students content using techniques recommended by the reform…

Discusses an alternate method of examining the verbal interaction of mothers and their children in dyadic communication. The behavior of both mothers and children differed significantly according to the ages of the children involved. Acta Symbolica, 807 Jefferson Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 38105. Subscription Rates: annually, $12.00 individuals,…

Examined were the ways peer models affect children's self-efficacy in a cognitive learning context and whether the effects of models vary depending on the sex of the subjects. Subjects were 72 fourth and fifth grade students low in subtraction skills. During pretests subjects indicated the extent to which they thought ability, effort, task…

A study was conducted to investigate the respective contributions of personal and social factors (initial competence and imitation of modeled responses) in children's observational learning of conservation. Subjects included 180 first-grade nonconservers from six schools attended by French-speaking middle class pupils. All subjects failed…

This experiment explored how incorporating the importance of task strategy use and positive achievement beliefs into cognitive modeling affected self-efficacy and skill acquisition. Students deficient in division skills received cognitive modeling of division solution strategies and practice opportunities. For one group of students the cognitive…

Research has suggested that didactic and values discussions, life skills training, social skills training, and family intervention can reduce heavy drug use. Because subjects display variability in patterns of behavior change, increased understanding of these individual differences could be beneficial to interventions. A preventive intervention…

This paper describes a social studies unit which addresses the problem of cultural dissonance in black, inner city kindergarten children who enter school without adequate classroom social interaction skills. In order to avoid using extensive academic time to orient children toward cooperative behavior and discipline procedures throughout the…

This paper provides an overview of mentoring in psychology, and includes the components of teaching, modeling, guiding, sponsoring, and counseling. The contributions of mentors toward the professional success of men and women in business, medicine and education are discussed. The materials suggest a need for further research because the literature…

The parent training component of early childhood intervention programs was examined with four handicapped children (26 to 29 months old) and their mothers. Antecendent and contingent modeling, two procedures that parents are commonly trained to use with their handicapped children, were investigated. Each modeling procedure was effective in…

Current research indicates that hospitalized children may profit best from preparation for surgery that is individually suited to their particular way of responding to hospitalization. It is likely, however, that preparation treatments will be provided for children in groups. Therefore, an attempt has been made to design and test information and…

The paper is a philosophical examination of values education. It is presented in three major sections. First, there is a discussion of the role that value education has played in the American educational system. A historical review of four documents published by national educational groups and the government indicates that moral education has been…

Since a review of the literature shows that reading comprehension is primarily a reasoning, thinking process, a procedure called P. L. O. R. E.--an acronym for predicting, locating, organizing, remembering, and evaluating textual material--is suggested as offering a sound theoretical framework on which to base active comprehension instruction.…